Prevalence of internet addiction in healthcare professionals: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Internet addition is becoming increasingly recognised as an important mental health problem. Aim: This study examined prevalence of internet addiction in healthcare professionals. Method: Systematic literature review was undertaken of June 4, 2020 with goal to identify studies that evaluated prevalence of internet addiction or problematic internet use in medical professionals. Reported associations with other mental health symptoms were also considered. Results: Prevalence of internet addiction was studied in medical residents only ( n = 770; three studies), faculty members only ( n = 69; one study), nurses only ( n = 564; one study) and mixed samples of medical professionals ( n = 415; three studies). Pooled prevalence rate of internet addiction in 1,818 healthcare professionals was 9.7% (95% confidence interval: 5.8%–13.6%). Internet addiction was associated with greater mental symptom burden and fatigue of healthcare workers. Conclusion: Internet addiction is present in healthcare professionals, however, to a lesser extent than in medical students suggesting that increasing clinical responsibilities and increasing age can be important moderators of risk for internet addiction. Internet addiction is associated with greater burden of unfavourable mental health outcomes of healthcare professionals. Further studies exploring global burden of internet addiction in healthcare professionals and possible impact of internet addiction on work performance of healthcare professionals are encouraged.

Internet Addiction and Burnout in A Single Hospital: Is There Any Association?

“…Recent studies have shown possible association of burnout with physical, psychological and occupational consequences such as cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, depression and addictive behaviour [ 10 , 11 , 12 ]. There are limited data about the association of burnout and problematic internet use as a behavioural addiction.…”

“…Interestingly, intrapersonal variables were statistically shown to have larger effects on IA than interpersonal variables according to a recent meta-analysis [ 9 ]. IA is mainly studied in adolescents, but it may also occur among adults and can be associated with greater mental symptom burden and fatigue [ 10 ].…”

Compulsive Internet Use Scale: Psychometric Properties and Associations With Sleeping Patterns, Mental Health, and Well-Being in Lithuanian Medical Students During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

“…However, despite numerous advantages of Internet-based technologies in medical training and the healthcare system, there is still a growing body of evidence that excessive Internet use could lead to PIU among healthcare professionals and cause comorbid problems related to mental health. The prevalence rate for PIU was reported at 7.2% in the general population (Pan et al, 2020) compared with 9.7% among healthcare professionals (Buneviciene and Bunevicius, 2020) and 30.1% among medical students (Zhang et al, 2018). It is well-recognized that medical students and resident doctors are at a greater risk for mental health problems when compared with the general population (Puthran et al, 2016;Erschens et al, 2019;Zeng et al, 2019;Zhou et al, 2020).…”

Internetfüggőség, alvászavar, depresszió és életminőség összefüggésének vizsgálata a bajai kórház dolgozóinak körében

“…Az internetfüggőség gyakran szorongással, depresszióval, tiltott szerhasználattal és malnutrícióval társulhat, továbbá iskolai/munkahelyi kiégéshez vezethet [4,8,9]. Az előbb felsorolt mentális rendellenességek és internet addikció közötti okokozati kapcsolat nem teljesen tisztázott [4,8,9,10].…”

“…Az internetfüggőség döntően fiatalkorúaknál vizsgált jelenség, de felnőtteknél is előfordul, noha az erre vonatkozó irodalmi adatok még messze nem teljesek [10].…”